Information Economy Project 'Big Ideas About Information' Lecture Series

Spectrum Reform: A U.K. Regulator's Perspective

A Lecture by WILLIAM WEBB
Head of Research and Development and Senior Technologist, OFCOM,
the telecommunications regulator in the United Kingdom

Wednesday, November 12, 2008, 4 p.m.
 George Mason University School of Law, 3301 Fairfax Drive, Arlington, Va.
Room 121

William Webb, Head of Research andDevelopment and Senior Technologist,OFCOM, the telecommunications regulator in the United Kingdom, delivered an inside view of the U.K.'s cutting edge policy initiative to liberalize radio spectrum on Thursday, November 12, at the Information Economy Project at the George Mason University School of Law.

Regulation of the radio spectrum is nearly 100 years old. For almost all of that century, the policy-maker has micro-managed spectrum use, defining services, technologies and business modelsdeployed by wireless operators. The inefficiencies embedded in this approach have triggered calls for liberalization since the pioneering 1950s work of Ronald Coase.

Yet, efforts to relax administrative control have proven slow and often contentious. Progress has been made in recent years, however, and policy makers in some nations are now seeking to achieve bolder changes. The regulator in the United Kingdom, Ofcom, has emerged as a leader in this campaign. After the Labour Government commissioned a landmark 2002 study authored by economist Martin Cave, Ofcom moved aggressively to assist the emergence of property rights in frequencies, the institutional switch enabling market allocation of radio spectrum.

This lecture, delivered by a key Ofcom policy official and a noted spectrum technology expert in his own right, dissects the liberalization process in Great Britain and offers lessons learned. This experience promises great insight for the U.S. and other countries struggling to enact pro-consumer policy reforms.

Where: George Mason University School of Law, Room 121, 3301 Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA 22201 (Orange Line: Virginia Square-GMU Metro).
When: Wednesday, November 12, 2008, 4 – 5:30 p.m., reception to follow
Admission is free, but seating is limited. Because of construction, parking is tight. See http://www.law.gmu.edu/geninfo/parking. See IEP Web page: http://iep.gmu.edu. To reserve your spot, please email Drew Clark: iep.gmu@gmail.com.

Article Published from this Lecture:

"An Optimal Way To License the Radio Spectrum" by William Webb, 33 Telecommunications Policy 230-37 (Apr.-May 2009), Quick Links: Big Ideas About Information, William Webb

Photos

Presentation Files Available Here:

>> Spectrum Reform: The Theory, Practice, Politics and Problems [DOC]
>> Spectrum Reform [Power Point Presentation]
>> Digital Recording of Webb's November 12 'Big Ideas' Lecture: Part 1 | Part 2 [MP3 files]

About the Information Economy Project:
The Information Economy Project at George Mason University sits at the intersection of academic research and public policy, producing peer-reviewed scholarly research, as well as hosting conferences and lectures with prominent thinkers in the Information Economy. The project brings the discipline of law and economics to telecommunications policy. More information about the project is available at http://iep.gmu.edu. 

About the 'Big Ideas About Information' Lecture Series:
World-class thinkers about markets, public policy and technology have lectured at the Information Economy Project at George Mason University. Among them: Vernon Smith, Nobel Laureate in Economics, on the lessons from FCC license auctions; Martin Cooper, CEO of Arraycomm and "father of the cellphone"; Brian Lamb, founder and CEO of C-SPAN, about his revolutionary cable network; former Federal Communications Commission Chairman Dennis Patrick, who led the effort to abolish the "Fairness Doctrine"; and University of Minnesota Professor Andrew Odlyzko, on the 1840s railroad mania and the Internet bubble of the 1990s.